The star of the show comes in three different sizes: small, medium and large.
The costumes come in waves, and from all corners of the imagination, 150 pieces in all. The music, well, the music comes from right on stage, in the form of the “Queen’s Court Band.” And the backdrop for the scenery? That’s a Power-Point production.
Prepare to be bedazzled and entertained, as the Friday Harbor High School Drama Group pulls out all the stops and puts its own whimsical, almost cartoon-like twist on Lewis Carroll’s classic tale of a girl who unexpectedly finds herself on a distorted, misshapen adventure and in a world where even the most familiar things no longer seem to make sense… curiouser and curiouser, as the saying goes.
It’s none other than “Alice in Wonderland,” in two acts, based on an adaptation by Anne Coulter Martens, and with a tip-of-hat to the past — it’s the 20th anniversary of the high school production of “Alice” under the direction of former drama instructor Fred Yockers (but without goats) — and with an eye toward the future as well.
It will be the first time in years that student musicians have been on stage to perform the musical accompaniment for a high school production. Director Jane Maxwell Campbell, now in her second year at the helm of the drama group, is determined that it won’t be the last.
“What’s really exciting for me is the marrying of music and theater on stage again for Friday Harbor High School,” she said.
Maxwell Campbell credits newly arrived high school band instructor Sara Bost for rallying members of the jazz band for the performance. The Queen’s Court Band consists of eight musicians in all, with Borst herself in the mix, conducting and playing the flute. The score also includes three solos by members of the cast singing original tunes composed by Frank Ellis, a former musical and theatrical colleague of Maxwell Campbell’s, which he contributed to the show.
While the adaptation by Coulter Martens adds a bit more playfulness and lightheartedness to Carroll’s classic, the play features all those adorable, kooky characters that Alice fans are familiar with, plus one: Humpty Dumpty. There’s the Cheshire Cat (Sklyar Moeder), White Rabbit (Kendall Calvert), Mad Hatter (Halla Warner), the Gryphon (Eric Sable), the Dormouse (Rachel May) and, of course, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (Isabella Brown and Maddy Marinkovich). Alice is played by Madrona, Courtney Bell and Summer Fox.
Maxwell Campbell describes the production as a “costume drama” and “visual feast”, and a “multi-media” production that’s both light in its essence and suitable for all ages. It also promises to be interactive as well, with an “Alice” costume contest for kids featured as part of Sunday’s matinee.
The Business Partner for the production is Kings Market.
Purchase tickets at SJCT box office, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tues-Fridays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays, and one hour prior to performance. For more info, www.sjctheatre.org.